UK Retail Sales jump 0.7% MoM in March vs. 0.2% expected
Retail Sales, a key measure of consumer spending, in the United Kingdom (UK) rebounded 0.7% month-over-month (MoM) in March after declining by a revised 0.6% in February, the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Friday.
The market forecast was for a 0.2% growth in the reported month.
The core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, increased by 0.2% MoM in March, compared with the previous drop of 0.6% (revised from -0.4%) and the estimated 0.2% figure.
The core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, increased by 0.2% MoM in March, compared with the previous drop of 0.6% (revised from -0.4%) and the estimated 0.2% figure.
The annual Retail Sales in the UK advanced 1.7% in March versus 1.8% prior (revised from 2.5%) and 1.3% expectations.
The annual core Retail Sales rose 1.7% in the same month, against February’s 2.7% (revised from 3.4%). The reading came in below the consensus of 2%.
Market reaction to the UK Retail Sales report
The Pound Sterling moves little in an initial reaction to the mixed UK Retail Sales data. The GBP/USD pair is trading 0.04% lower on the day at 1.3467, as of writing.
(This story was corrected on April 24 at 8:37 GMT to say that "the annual Retail Sales in the UK advanced 1.7% in March versus 1.8% prior (revised from 2.5%) and 1.3% expectations," not 1.2%.)
Pound Sterling Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the weakest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.02% | -0.01% | 0.02% | 0.04% | -0.01% | -0.02% | 0.06% | |
| EUR | -0.02% | -0.03% | 0.00% | 0.03% | -0.03% | -0.02% | 0.06% | |
| GBP | 0.00% | 0.03% | 0.00% | 0.06% | 0.00% | 0.02% | 0.06% | |
| JPY | -0.02% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.02% | -0.03% | -0.04% | 0.02% | |
| CAD | -0.04% | -0.03% | -0.06% | -0.02% | -0.06% | -0.06% | 0.02% | |
| AUD | 0.01% | 0.03% | 0.00% | 0.03% | 0.06% | 0.00% | 0.06% | |
| NZD | 0.02% | 0.02% | -0.02% | 0.04% | 0.06% | 0.00% | 0.07% | |
| CHF | -0.06% | -0.06% | -0.06% | -0.02% | -0.02% | -0.06% | -0.07% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).
Author
Dhwani Mehta
FXStreet
Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.
